Protocols & Routines
Number Talks - 5 Day
Great American Race
Convince Me That - Math
How-To
Find a question / word problem
Remove the question (leave problem stem)
Give students the answer and ask them to convince you that it’s true
Benefits
Fear of being wrong is reduced
Slows students down
Goal shifts from finding solutions to communicating understanding
Moving beyond procedures
Gets student collaborating (use small groups / pairs)
Emphasizes drawing (representational/pictorial)
Protocol is easy on the fly and subject-agnostic
Convince Me That
How-To
Find a question / word problem
Remove the question (leave problem stem)
Give students the answer and ask them to convince you that it’s true
Benefits
Fear of being wrong is reduced
Slows students down
Goal shifts from finding solutions to communicating understanding
Moving beyond procedures
Gets student collaborating (use small groups / pairs)
Emphasizes drawing (representational/pictorial)
Protocol is easy on the fly and subject-agnostic
Three Reads Protocol
How-To
Find a passage, word problem, text, or task
Remove any overarching question
First Read ⇒ Ask students to describe the situation
Read passage, word problem, text, or task
Second Read ⇒ Ask a question that builds upon the first read and towards the third read (this will vary depending on task/subject)
Read passage, word problem, text, or task
Third Read ⇒ Ask/Reveal the overarching question
Read passage, word problem, text, or task
**At this point you can ask students to share strategies/ideas to answer the overarching question.
*After each read, record student thinking in a visible space.
Benefits
Gives students the right tools to participate in grade-level work
Retains and gives access to grade-level vocabulary
Collaboration after third read
Makes student thinking visible
Which One Doesn't Belong
HOW-TO
Find a collection of objects, formulas, words, images,...that are all similar and different at the same time.
Display the collection and give students 1 minute of independent think time to pick which one doesn’t belong and come up with a justification.
Give students time in groups (breakout rooms) to share their thinking.
Make student thinking visible by recording student/group responses on the board.
BENEFITS
Invitation to the learning. Every student should be able to justify why they think one item is different from the others.
Students collaborate and share their thinking.
Quick activity (<10 minutes).
Teacher gains insight into the vocabulary and level of thinking students are doing.
Notice & Wonder
HOW-TO
Identify and display a picture, graph, equation, table, …
Ask students what they notice and what they wonder.
Give 1 minute of independent think time. (Have students give a thumbs up at their chest to signal that they are ready to share.)
Group students to share. (2-3 minutes)
Collect and display student responses.
BENEFITS
Sentence starters make the content more accessible because students don’t have to think through the correct phrasing.
Anyone can notice and wonder. This is an invitation to the learning.
Collaboration - Group students to share their noticings and wonderings.
Teacher gains insight into the vocabulary students are using and their knowledge of the topic.
Estimating & Guessing
HOW-TO
Find a question, task, image, book cover, …
Ask students to make an estimation or guess about either the solution, character, story line,...
If the estimate is a quantity, ask for a low, high, and just right estimate prior to formal work/discussion.
Make student thinking visible by recording their responses.
BENEFITS
Students get to practice estimating and guessing based on the information provided and possibly their background knowledge...
Easily promote inquiry.
If working with estimates, students gain a sense of reasonableness prior to making calculations.
By asking for an estimate/guess, the problem becomes more accessible to students. (They don’t have to be precise in their thinking.)